Does Eating Squid Cause Keloid Scars? Foods to Eat and Avoid

When dealing with open wounds caused by accidents, surgery, or beauty treatments, your diet significantly affects how fast your skin recovers. Among various concerns, whether eating squid causes keloid scars is a top question for many people. This article from Ola Squid will provide a detailed answer while offering a list of foods to eat and avoid for smooth, flawless skin. Let’s check it out!

Does eating squid cause keloid scars?

To get an accurate answer to whether eating squid causes keloid scars, you need to look at it from the perspective of nutrition and the body’s wound-healing mechanism.

In essence, eating squid does not directly cause keloid scars in the same way that water spinach does. However, squid belongs to the seafood group that is rich in protein and has a cooling property, which can easily cause irritation, itching, or increase the risk of inflammation in new skin areas. When a wound is itchy, scratched frequently, or scratched to the point of infection, the collagen proliferation process becomes disrupted and indirectly leads to keloids or dark scars.

So why is squid suspected of causing keloid scars? There are two main reasons why squid is often on the forbidden list when you have an open wound:

• High protein content: Squid contains an abundant amount of protein. When the body receives too much protein suddenly during the scarring stage, the collagen production process can be overly stimulated, creating conditions for scar tissue to grow and raise above the skin surface.
• Contains natural bacteria and salt: Fresh seafood always contains a certain amount of natural bacteria and a characteristic salinity. For sensitive individuals, these components easily cause irritation, delay wound closure, lead to pus, or prolong swelling and inflammation.

See more: Can pregnant women eat dried squid? Experts answer

How long should you avoid eating squid when you have an open wound?

The restriction period is not fixed but depends on the severity of the skin damage and each individual’s physical condition.

Small wounds and minor scratches

For shallow surface scratches like small cuts or minor bicycle falls, you only need to avoid eating squid for about 1 to 1.5 weeks. Once the skin surface is dry and starts forming new skin, you can return to your normal diet.

Wounds with fluid discharge or unclosed edges

If the wound is still discharging fluid, red and swollen, or has not completely closed, you must absolutely avoid eating squid. Continue avoiding it until the wound is dry and new skin forms (taking about 2 to 3 weeks).

Post-surgical or stitched wounds

For larger wounds, especially after surgeries or with stitches, the restriction period needs to be longer to ensure stable skin tissue regeneration.

• Minor surgery with stitches removed: avoid for at least 4 to 6 weeks.
• Major surgery with deep invasive intervention: avoid for 1 to 2 months depending on the recovery rate.
• People with a keloid-prone constitution or a history of keloids: should avoid it longer and consult a dermatologist before eating it again.

People with a keloid-prone constitution

If you have a constitution prone to keloid scars (where even a small scratch leaves a scar), the restriction period for squid should last from 1 to 2 months to ensure safety for your skin.

Cases requiring special caution when eating squid

Although squid is a nutritious dish, under certain circumstances, consuming this food can bring many health risks:

• People with a history of seafood allergies: Even if the wound has healed, allergies can flare up, causing hives, itching, and re-damaging the newly recovered skin area.
• People suffering from dermatitis and rashes: Eating squid during this period will make swelling and itching much more severe.
• Wounds showing signs of infection: If the skin area is swollen, hot, painful, and has cloudy pus, eating squid will increase the risk of widespread infection.

Besides squid, what foods should be avoided to prevent keloid scars?

Along with the question of whether you can eat squid with an open wound, you also need to note avoiding certain familiar foods to prevent affecting the aesthetics of your skin:

• Beef: Although nutritious, beef easily increases melanin pigmentation, causing new skin to darken and leaving deep dark scars.
• Chicken: Specifically, chicken skin is very likely to cause irritation, itching, and discomfort in the regenerating skin area.
• Glutinous rice dishes (sticky rice, sweet soups, square glutinous rice cake): Have a heating nature, making wounds swell, fester, and prolonging the healing time of injuries.
• Other seafood (shrimp, crab, snails): Similar to squid, protein-rich and cooling seafood easily causes allergies, itching, and pus formation.
• Water spinach: Is the top “culprit” stimulating excessive collagen proliferation, very easily leading to large, raised keloid scars.
• Eggs: Can cause newly healed skin to become patchy and uneven in color compared to the surrounding skin.
• Tea and coffee: Caffeine dehydrates the body, reduces blood circulation to nourish wounds, and slows down the recovery process.

See more: What foods conflict with squid? Safe eating guide for health

Foods to eat to support wound healing and prevent keloid scars

Besides dietary restrictions, supplementing the right food groups will help wounds heal faster and reduce the risk of leaving ugly scars. A balanced diet plays an equally important role as avoiding inflammation-causing foods.

To help your skin heal quickly and become smooth, you should add the following nutrient-rich food groups to your daily menu:

• Foods rich in vitamin C (oranges, guava, broccoli, bell peppers): Promotes natural collagen synthesis, helps fight inflammation, and boosts immunity.
• Foods rich in zinc (cashews, almonds, milk, liver): Supports cell division, rapid regeneration, and repair of damaged tissue.
• Foods rich in iron (pork, tofu, cereals): Helps produce red blood cells, fully transporting oxygen and nutrients to nourish recovering skin areas.
• Foods rich in vitamin E (avocado, papaya, sunflower seeds): Antioxidants help soften skin and minimize the risk of keloids and dark scars.
• Drinking enough water (2 – 2.5 liters/day): Helps maintain skin moisture, supports tissue regeneration, and softens wounds from within.

See more: Is eating squid good? Nutritionist reviews

Frequently asked questions

Can you eat squid with an open wound?

No. When the wound has not closed, eating squid can cause itching, pus, and increase the risk of forming ugly scars.

How long after a wound can you eat squid normally again?

Depending on the depth of the wound, on average after 1 to 4 weeks (when the wound has formed new skin and is no longer swollen or painful), you can eat squid normally again.

Do keloid scars go away on their own?

Keloid scars do not go away on their own over time. Due to excessive collagen proliferation, keloid scars require medical interventions such as corticosteroid injections, lasers, or surgery to flatten them.

In summary, whether eating squid causes keloid scars depends mainly on each person’s constitution and wound condition, rather than being a rule that applies to everyone. To achieve smooth skin after an injury, you should proactively avoid squid and allergy-prone foods during the early stages, while actively supplementing beneficial nutrients. Don’t forget to follow Ola Squid to update more useful information about health and seafood nutrition!